It’s fair to say that Sons of the Forest is one of the most eagerly-anticipated sequels in the survival horror genre right now. The follow-up to 2018’s The Forest is expected to be released next month and new details are beginning to emerge prior to its launch. One such detail is the sequel’s comparative size. It’s bigger, basically. A lot bigger.
According to a new interview in GamesRadar+, the team at Sons of the Forest development studio Endnight Games has created a map that’s four times larger than that of the original game. Alongside the increased size of the game’s world, players will also see enhanced details in the terrifying island-meets-forest environment they’ll find themselves stranded in.
Speaking to GamesRadar+, the Endnight Games team explain a bit more about the granular level of detail that they’ve tried to replicate in their design and creation in Sons of the Forest. “In just scale, the world is around four times the size of The Forest, but everything is more detailed this time,” they state, continuing, ” ith more plant and tree variety, more log and stump types, and visually when you craft items, for example, a Molotov Cocktail, you actually see the player take some cloth and shove it into a bottle of vodka. When you place a log on a wall or cut a floor apart, you see the player actually do it.” The overall vibe of the sequel has horror threaded through every action, as Endnight explains that they “wanted this to feel like the ultimate camping simulator meets a terrifying horror survival game.”
Complementing this improved level of detail and the enhanced map will be an overhaul of the game’s AI systems. “The A.I. in the first game was something players really responded to,” they explain, “and so for Sons, we wanted to take that to the next level. We created a whole new A.I. system that allows for some really interesting and creepy encounters.” These creepy AI encounters will be a bit easier to deal with though, thanks to the addition of AI companions in Sons of the Forest, which was also confirmed earlier this week. Players will have a variety of recruitable companions to bring along on their survival adventures in Sons of the Forest, and it sounds like they’ll come in pretty handy along the way.
Endnight Games is also giving the player better access to tools and weaponry in Sons of the Forest. As explained in the interview, players will be able to make use of some key items that should help them on their journey. “We’ve introduced a 3d Printer this time, allowing players to print various items to help them survive,” Endnight Games explain, adding “we’ve tried to keep this realistic, so you can only print things you would in the real world. The player also starts with a personal handheld GPS which helps with navigating the much larger world.”
Sons of the Forest is planned to launch on February 23 and will be available on PC via Steam.
